Is it worth moving to contracting?

[Elliegirl]

I've recently moved after a lifetime of perm and am loving it.

Depends how confident you are in your skill set and how much you hate your perm job

In all seriousness, don't pack a perm job in unless you have a cast iron contract or a year's worth of money in the bank.

If you have either/both then dive in. I've lurked on this forum for 5years+ and there has never been a good time to leap.

Do please introduce me to one of these.
I overheard a programme manager at a former gig ordering a rather fancy fireplace on the basis of a so called 'cast iron contract'. It was clearly all in his mind and I believe he lasted around 8 weeks. He was NOT happy.

[skysies]

[QUOTE=kaiser78;2421097]Which may on the other hand create a whole host of opportunities...

What opportunities? Come down to the City, and you'll understand what will happen to the rest of the country pretty soon. There's no *btulipting here, none of the political nonsense, they just keep counting how much money they have already lost cause of all these Brexit lunatics. Things don't look good over here..

[fatJock]

Well Ellie, as cast iron as your appetite for risk can take...... nothing is certain, even in perm.

Having lurked here for years I've heard moans about the state of the market, the doom of initial IR35 intro and almost every other reason why not to make the switch. Seems like there's never a good time, the latest clouds on the horizon being Brexit or private sector IR35 push.

Advice still stands to the OP, save enough cash to have a year off and try to find a contract before packing your job in. Notice periods and being new to contracting might put you lower down the list but if it's what you want to do, go for it.

[skysies]

Well Ellie, as cast iron as your appetite for risk can take...... nothing is certain, even in perm.

Having lurked here for years I've heard moans about the state of the market, the doom of initial IR35 intro and almost every other reason why not to make the switch. Seems like there's never a good time, the latest clouds on the horizon being Brexit or private sector IR35 push.

Advice still stands to the OP, save enough cash to have a year off and try to find a contract before packing your job in. Notice periods and being new to contracting might put you lower down the list but if it's what you want to do, go for it.

Well, I have never seen worse time. People here make the mistake of thinking that things will continue as they are. Well, they won't. The City is the best barometer for what's coming. Come over here, have a beer with some random City folks, and then let's talk again.

[MyUserName]

Is it worth going into contracting now for 9/10 months considering there will be changes

No. If you are a newbie I would expect you to get nowhere fast. You will be up against stacks of exprienced contractors who know their industry well and have solid networks to boost their chances.

[oliverson]

Well, I have never seen worse time. People here make the mistake of thinking that things will continue as they are. Well, they won't. The City is the best barometer for what's coming. Come over here, have a beer with some random City folks, and then let's talk again.

tbh, I hope that happens. Despite making a good living from London finance for nearly a decade I really hope it goes to the wall. The most morally corrupt industry on planet earth, fleecing Jo Public, stuffing him with cheap credit and debting him to the eyeballs in the process. Shafting contractors on day rates and offshoring/onshoring Indians. How's that good for the nation as a whole? I'm no Corbyn fan but I think our dependency on financial services and London in particular is a bad thing. We need to start manufacturing stuff again and impose a heavy tax on companies who offshore that manufacturing (British jobs) and try to bring the product back into the country.

If London were to lose at the expense of Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle, etc, well, wouldn't that be a good thing?

[jamesbrown]

If London were to lose at the expense of Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle, etc, well, wouldn't that be a good thing?

Probably not, because those other cities are unlikely to make up the difference, at least not for decades. London massively subsidises the rest of the UK. Government will never effectively pick winners or implement "industrial strategies", other than focusing on the basics of good (e.g. STEM) education, plus tweaking at the margins with tax policies. Protectionism simply doesn't work. Certainly, a more balanced economy (geographically and sectorally) would be a good thing, but it takes decades and forces that are largely not controlled by HMG (other than core skills). Financial services are our strength, even if there's an over-representation of scumbags there.

[Bee]

Hi,

Am currently a permanent employee but have been thinking of going into contracting for a few months now.

However, have heard that IR35 now applies to contractors working in public sector and it will also be introduced next April for private sector.

Is it worth going into contracting now for 9/10 months considering there will be changes, will there be any benefit of contracting even if inside IR35 for any sector from next year compared with permanent? Will rates and experience be a factor?

If contracting is currently unstable I wouldn't change now. Keep your perm for now and wait.

[MrMarkyMark]

If contracting is currently unstable I wouldn't change now. Keep your perm for now and wait.

Like this you mean

[northernladuk]

If contracting is currently unstable I wouldn't change now. Keep your perm for now and wait.

Based in the current status of the Portuguese contract market?